Women’s Pool Round Complete: Argentina, Canada, Chile, United States to play in semi-finals

Women’s Pool Round Complete: Argentina, Canada, Chile, United States to play in semi-finals

Canada beats Mexico by five goals in thriller to take second in Pool A and advance to semi-finals.

With Uruguay and Canada having tied, both Uruguay and Canada were looking for another win to secure the second place spot in Pool A. On Day 7 of the 2012 Junior Pan American Championship (Women), first Uruguay squared off with South American rival, Argentina who had first place in Pool A. In this match, Argentina’s Florencia Zapulla scored in the fourth minute off a penalty corner. While Argentina dominated possession, Uruguay played very strong defense to keep Argentina from scoring another goal in the first half. Argentina also had the attacking advantage in the second half and Julia Mailen Gomes Fantasia converted another penalty corner for Argentina to make it a 2-0 score. Soon after, Gisele Estefanía Juarez made it 3-0 off a field goal in the 54th minute. Uruguay was still looking for attacking opportunities. And cut into Argentina’s lead when Manuela Villar Del Valle scored in the 62nd minute to make it 3-1. Immediately at the whistle, however, Argentina’s Sofía Denise Villarroya scored to again give Argentina a three goal lead over Uruguay. With either team unable to score another in the final minutes, the final score remained 4-1 in favor of Argentina who kept the top spot in Pool A.

Afterwards, Canada battled host Mexico to see if they could surpass Uruguay for second place in Pool A. Canada would not only need a win against Mexico, but also a goal difference of at least five goals; otherwise, with the same number of wins and losses, Uruguay would claim the second place Pool A spot based on goal difference. Canada came out dominating possession and keeping play in their attacking half. Mexico, however, did a tremendous job on defense and prevented Canada from scoring throughout much of the first half. Caashia Karrington’s penalty corner drag flick gave Canada the 1-nill lead in the 17th minute, but Mexico held off Canada for the rest of the half, as Canada’s Captain Abigail Raye was out with a yellow card late in the first half. Knowing that they needed a goal difference by five, Canada’s Coach Peter Milkovich decided to replace keeper Lauren Logush with a kicking back. The gamble paid off and Canada scored four goals in a ten minute span, three of which were off penalty corners by Karrington. Logush returned to the match; and both teams continued to try to score. Mexico had a penalty corner, but could not convert. Thus, Canada won the match 5-nill; and secured the second place spot in Pool A based on having more “goals for” than Uruguay. And Argentina and Canada, respectively, will both advance to the semi-finals.

In a Pool B matchup against Trinidad and Tobago, Paraguay was still looking for its first tournament win. With the first five minutes of the match Paraguay had the 2-0 lead over Trinidad & Tobago off goals by María Servian Giosa and Andrea Cardozo Servin; these goals were also Paraguay’s first goals of the tournament. In an exciting first half, about ten minutes later, Trinidad & Tobago had tied the match off goals by Brittney Hingh and Brianna Govia, respectively. Both teams continued to battle for possession, but it was Trinidad & Tobago who had the 3-2 lead at halftime due to another goal by Hingh in the 33rd minute. In the second half, Trinidad & Tobago had more attacking opportunities, as they earned many penalty corners. Behind Paraguay’s keeper Sandra Barboza Franco, Paraguay kept Trinidad & Tobago from scoring further. Servian Giosa scored two more goals to give Paraguay a 4-3 lead over Trinidad & Tobago that remained the final score and secured Paraguay’s first tournament win.

The final Pool B matches were held on Day 8, between the United States and Jamaica; Paraguay and Venezuela and; Trinidad & Tobago versus Chile. The United States had secured the second place in Pool B based on goal difference, but both Jamaica and the United States were looking for another victory. The United States dominated on the attack in the first half; and were able to score consistently throughout the half against Jamaica. Captain Emily Wold scored off a penalty corner in the fifth minute and the United States never looked back, she also scored again in the 23rd minute; it was 6-0 at halftime (goals also by Heather Morris, Abby Beltrani, Marta Malmberg, and Ali McEvoy). In the second half, Jamaica came out like a different team; they defended better and had a few penalty corner opportunities. Thus, Jamaica held the United States to only two goals in the second half, but struggled to score a goal of their own; and the United States came away with the 8-0 victory.

Against Paraguay, Venezuela was looking for another tournament win to try to secure third place in Pool B. Venezuela came out fired on attack and controlled play in their attacking end for much of the first half. Yet, the match remained scoreless at halftime. In the second half, play was more even with both teams having some attacking opportunities. Venezuela’s Johandri Sanchez gave her team a quick 2-0 lead off back-to-back goals midway through the second half. Just five minutes later, María Servian Giosa for Paraguay made it a 2-1 score with about ten minutes remaining in the match. Both teams continued to try to score again, but the final score remained 2-1 in favor of Venezuela.

In the final Pool B match, Chile and Trinidad & Tobago battled. While Chile had secured the top spot in Pool B with a win over the United States, Trinidad & Tobago was looking to try to secure third place with a win over Chile. It looked like Chile was going to take a large early lead when Manuela Urroz and Captain Fernanda Flores both scored within the first 12 minutes of the match. Trinidad & Tobago, however, played incredibly strong defense and the score remained 2-0 in favor of Chile at halftime. In the second half, Chile’s strong attack was on display, as Chile scored four more unanswered goals by the 52nd minute (including two by Augustina Venegas, and another by Urroz). Trinidad & Tobago., however, continued to look for attacking opportunities and Brianna Govia put her team on the scoreboard just five minutes later. Unable to score more, Chile came away with a 7-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago. Thus, Venezuela secured third place in Pool B.

With both their wins, Chile and the United States, respectively, secured the top two places in Pool B and will advance to the semi-finals.

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